Pickups - are they passive - active - both??

[tonynoriega]

This is a followup question because I have a pair of Jazz Bartolinis that I bought from a guy that indicates that they are passive. But on the bottom - etched in to the resin - is "9v". So my question is:

Are pickups just pickups, and then they are used "as is" as a passive pickup, OR

when used with electronics and a battery(s), they become active? OR

are some made to be used passive and others as active?

[Nighttrain1127]

Bartolini does make pickup models that start with 9 so the 9v may be a model number.

[tonynoriega]

Thanks for pointing that up Nightrain.....I never thought of that. Tony

[tonynoriega]

Thanks for pointing that up Nightrain.....I never thought of that. I just went to the Bartolini site and none of the current models have a "v" in the designation. Still hoping for answers - I know that some of you guys have been working with electronics for years......

[tlwaps]

On my Warwick Thumb B.O. 5 string and my Lakland 44-01 if I pull up on the volume knob it makes the pick up's passive or if I push it back down it makes them active.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by tlwaps

On my Warwick Thumb B.O. 5 string and my Lakland 44-01 if I pull up on the volume knob it makes the pick up's passive or if I push it back down it makes them active.

That involves bypassing the preamp. Most basses, even ones with preamps, use passive pickups. Active pickups are relatively rare... mostly EMG. The only active Bartolini pickup I'm aware of are the highly customized active soapbars used by Mike Tobias.

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by tonynoriega

This is a followup question because I have a pair of Jazz Bartolinis that I bought from a guy that indicates that they are passive. But on the bottom - etched in to the resin - is "9v". So my question is:

Are pickups just pickups, and then they are used "as is" as a passive pickup, OR

when used with electronics and a battery(s), they become active? OR

are some made to be used passive and others as active?

FWIW:

9v doesn't mean 9volt. To my knowledge they are high impedance low output pups which typically means Bart designed them to use with a preamp. 9 seems to be what Bart uses to indicate a J pup. There's a review on them in FAQ in Dimento's J experiment. See the Bass mod link in the first paragraph of Dimento's Trouble Shooting Guide as to what passive/active relationship is - or the Bass Tone Glossary. 9v's are passive.

Also Bart makes 9E J and 8TC P actives and probably more just never looked or had them. Duncan makes probably about a dozen actives. No doubt there are lots more, I'm not into actives so I don't keep up with them. But aside from EMG's, actives are not uncommon cause they aren't hard to find and they are readily available. Seem even Ibanez has made actives.